


Lilies and Chrysanthemums

by cakeengland



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Ambiguously Happy Ending, Angst, Don't copy to another site, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, brief references to suicide, but theres a note of hope and recovery there somewhere, flower symbolism, like its the sadder thing ive ever written, percabeth if you squint really hard, prophecy child thalia au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 12:37:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17224220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cakeengland/pseuds/cakeengland
Summary: Thalia disappears from camp one day. Percy and Annabeth get worried, only to find her at Luke's grave.





	Lilies and Chrysanthemums

“Thalia’s gone.”

“What?” Percy looked up from his sword practice to see Annabeth standing there, biting her lip. Since Luke’s death, Chiron had asked Percy and Annabeth to look after Thalia, who had been taking the loss extremely hard. They had agreed, though they would probably have done so anyway, because Thalia was their friend. They didn’t want to see her suffer. They alternated the days on which they hung out with her, and today was meant to be Annabeth’s day.

“Thalia’s gone,” Annabeth repeated. “When I went to the Zeus cabin to meet up with her, she had completely disappeared. I checked all over camp and asked around, but nobody’s seen her. It’s like she’s vanished into thin air.”

Percy didn’t want to admit the thought that immediately sprang to mind, and the one that he was sure was on Annabeth’s. Sure, Thalia was still grieving, but surely her pain wasn’t so great that she’d… he shook his head to clear it. “We’ve got to find her.”

“You don’t say, Seaweed Brain?” Annabeth sighed, though her concern for Thalia was more prominent than her exasperation. “I talked to Chiron, Nico and Grover are already out looking for her.”

It soothed Percy’s anxiety a little bit to hear that people were already looking for Thalia. “Where do we start?”

For once in her life, Annabeth looked helpless. “I… don’t know,” she admitted, sounding pained. “Nico and Grover are searching the city, so maybe we should search around it.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Percy offered, in an attempt to try and cheer up Annabeth. He could tell it was working, at least a little, when she smiled faintly.

“Come on, Seaweed Brain, let’s start looking.”

* * *

They found Thalia an hour later, and the rush of relief that swept through Percy kept him from immediately recognizing what she was doing. She was safe, and she wasn’t doing anything stupid like they’d feared. That was enough for him.

Then, he realized Thalia was kneeling on the ground, her shoulders shaking slightly. He exchanged a worried glance with Annabeth, before they silently approached. “Thalia?” Annabeth asked softly.

Thalia startled, immediately standing up and turning to face them as she wiped at her eyes. Percy wasn’t always quick on the uptake, but even he noticed that her eyes were red and puffy, with tear tracks both dry and fresh staining her cheeks. The reason quickly became apparent as he glanced behind her and noticed a small grave, the name  _ LUKE CASTELLAN  _ engraved onto the headstone. A bouquet of fresh flowers had been placed down, filled with lilies and a couple other flowers Percy didn’t immediately recognize. He realized that the grave was covered in similar bouquets.

“Hey,” Thalia greeted, her voice sounding hoarse. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We were worried when you disappeared,” Percy explained. “We came to look for you.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone where you were going?” Annabeth placed her hands on her hips, but Percy knew her well enough to tell she couldn’t bring herself to be truly annoyed.

Thalia sucked in her cheeks for a moment, biting the inside of her lip. “I bring him flowers every weekend,” she confessed. “I normally do it during the night, when I wake up.”

She didn’t need to clarify that she meant waking up from her nightmares, though Percy had realized they were closer to night terrors at this point. She’d spent the first week after Luke’s death sleeping in the Hermes cabin, resenting her father for not doing anything to try and save Luke, like he’d done for her. When she finally moved back to sleeping in the Zeus cabin again, it hadn’t taken long for Percy and Annabeth to practically move in with her, just to calm her when she woke up screaming and crying from one of her many nightmares. “Isn’t sneaking out at night incredibly dangerous?”

“You’ve done it before,” Thalia quipped, before sighing and glancing back at Luke’s grave. “Besides… he’s worth it.”

Percy could feel his heart breaking for Thalia all over again. He hadn’t been there personally for Luke’s final moments (thank you, Hera), but Annabeth had told him about it. Luke had used his final breath to tell Thalia he was still in love with her, even after the years they’d spent apart (that part had confused him until Annabeth had told him they had been together for the months they’d been on the run). Judging from how Thalia had apparently cried her eyes out, for once not caring who saw, refusing to let go of Luke’s body and having to be forcibly separated from him, Percy figured it was safe to assume Thalia felt the same way.

Annabeth was wise enough not to press the subject, stepping closer to inspect the bouquet of flowers. “Red spider lilies, pink carnations and white chrysanthemums.”

“Final goodbyes, remembrance of the deceased, and grief,” Thalia explained. “Or so said the book I picked up. I’m not exactly an expert on flower language.”

Percy hesitated, then said what may have possibly been the dumbest thing he’d ever said in his whole life. “I think Luke appreciates it.”

Thalia stiffened, but just for a moment before she swallowed and nodded. Percy could’ve sworn he saw the slightest smile on her face as she said, “Well, I sure hope so. I wouldn’t spend my money on a personalized bouquet for just anyone.”

In that moment, Percy realized Thalia was going to be okay. It might take a long time, and she might never move on from Luke, but she was going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll definitely write more of this AU, and I might write this from Thalia's POV. My tumblr's purple-isle-princess if anyone wants to chat.


End file.
